Freelancer Chronicles
by Walkman355
Summary: Tennessee is a member of Project Freelancer, he ain't the best, but he's still pretty tough. After a routine training exhibition goes wrong, he's assigned to babysit a squad of newbies and train them on how to be better than they used to be in the UNSC.
1. A New Team

Freelancer Chronicles

Tennessee woke up abruptly with a hard thump on his helmet, and he was glad he had the helmet on otherwise the rookie would have pissed his pants at the glare Tennessee had given him. "Wake up sir, Director Church would like to speak with you." He shouldered his way past the soldier and walked into the conference room, the thick southern accent rolled out,

"Agent, might I ask you what you were thinking when you betrayed Agent Wyoming during training to assist Agents Alabama and Montana?"

Tennessee rolled his eyes and replied with thick sarcasm, "I don't know, I thought they were my teammates?"

"Sarcasm is unbecoming of an Agent of our program who wishes to succeed!"

"Agent York says otherwise."

"Why do you think Agent York is moved around the leaderboard so much?"

"He likes the variety?"

"Agent I will…"

The Counselor interjected, "What the Director is trying to say is if you want greater freedom or responsibility, please take things seriously and evaluate your actions."

"I was!" Tennessee spat, "They were inexperienced and to send Wyoming at them to welcome them in was ridiculous!"

"Would you rather it have been Agent Maine?"

"I would rather have it be someone with half a heart like North or York! For god's sake you sent in one of our best killers to say hi, if I hadn't been there you'd be washing blood out of their armor!"

"The bullets were non-lethal."

"His tactics weren't, he ran right in and kept hitting Montana until I pulled him off…after I had yelled stop three times!"

"I will not discuss methods with you Agent Tennessee, if you want to babysit the new ones fine, they will be added to your new squad along with two new Freelancers; Virginia and Delaware will report to you immediately. I will let you pick your last…you are dismissed."

Tennessee stormed out grabbing Alaska as he left, "Ow, easy what's your problem."

"You're helping me lead a squad."

"What? Is this more of the Director's bullshit!"

"Yeah…I stood up for Montana and Alabama and now I have two new one's called Virginia and Delaware."

"Wait did you say Virginia, dude she's hot! And her skill with a sniper rifle, man we are set; and I heard Delaware was from ONI you know how spooks are, no offense, we could use someone like that!"

Tennessee sighed, "For the last time I was special-forces not a spook…but yeah that could work to our advantage. What do you know about the others?"

Alaska produced two confidential personnel files, "Montana, ODST specialist and an ace-mechanic…home-world of Reach and a lot of criminal racing past…the guys good, but he was discharged for illegal weapons and vehicle modifications."

"I don't think that'll be a problem in our line of work, next?"

"Alabama, Marine…not much on him except, ah there it is…multiple cases of disorderly conduct a lot of fights sometimes over trivial things, and a lot…I mean a lot…of broken orders."

"We'll see about him…but if he wants to fight I think all we have to do is point him in the right direction."

Tennessee walked up to his new team and was a little disappointed with what he saw. Wearing a full suit of tan EVA armor was their vehicle specialist Montana, standing beside him checking the barrel of his shotgun was Alabama with his blue/ light blue EOD armor with a Mark V helmet. Leaning against his locker was Alaska in his blue and silver Hayabusa armor eyeing Virginia as she leaned over to pick up her helmet her blonde hair tied back in a short ponytail, "Eyes on the prize?"

"Always," Alaska replied, "so you want to round them up?"

"No, give me the low down on their armor and enhancements."

"Well I'm sure you noticed Alabama and Montana's already, but their enhancements are similar; Overshield for Alabama and Montana projects an energy field similar to hard armor lock."

"And the others?"

"Delaware sports a mix of Scout and Security armor with a prototype cloaking unit, while she prefers the classic Mark VI pink, with periwinkle secondary."

Tennessee looked at Alaska, "Dude you need a hobby, seriously we have work to do." Tennessee walked over to his locker and put on his CQB armor and turned to face his team, "Alright, I am Tennessee your team leader…"

"Who authorized that election?" Delaware asked peering skeptically at Tennessee with his hands held behind his back.

"Don't like the election, take it up with the Director!" Tennessee said each word dripped malice. "From this day forward, I rule over you…you do not shoot unless I give the order, you work as a team unless I say otherwise, and you will obey…any questions?"

Alabama raised his hand, "And if we have a problem with that arrangement?"

Tennessee got right up in his face, "Take it up with my suggestion box." With that he slammed his fist into Alabama's chest knocking the wind out of him even through the armor. He fell to the ground and every one fixed eyes on him, "Any questions?" They all shook their heads except Delaware and Alabama who glared at him with venom in their gaze. "Training room in ten minutes, I want to see what you're capable of."

They had all assembled before him; armor fully ready and he could sense the beat down coming. "Alaska, you sit this out and run analysis with F.I.L.S.S."

The kindly woman's voice played over the speakers, "Agent Tennessee, this is highly irregular in procedure. Agent Alaska should participate in this exercise."

"I am aware F.I.L.S.S. but I would like this to be a test of their ability, not ours. If you would please bring up the weapons stand." The weapon stand rose on either side of the arena. "Take what you use best and let's see what you're capable of. The rounds are stunning only no lethal takedowns." As he said this, he saw Delaware slip Montana and Alabama knives he had hidden in his armor storage compartment. He just grabbed a pistol and pressed the button to lower the stand. Delaware had chosen a Magnum with Alabama toting a shotgun. Montana chose two SMG's and Virginia had a sniper rifle. Tennessee braced himself and shook himself of his itch for combat trying to keep a stable mindset, prioritizing. He would've had longer to analyze if Alaska hadn't taken the P.A. system from F.I.L.S.S. "Good morning Vietnam! Today for your viewing pleasure is a Freelancer evaluation of Delaware, Virginia, Montana, and Alabama! Administered by none other than our own Agent Tennessee! Go NUTS!"

At the green light, Virginia went to kneeling leveling her rifle. Delaware and Alabama rushed him while Montana hung back to defend Virginia. He had to give it to them at lest they were smart. Alabama opened fire first, and Tennessee took off sprinting. The shotgun would be hard to dodge this close in, so he had to disable him first. He dodged in between the shells and grabbed the shotgun from him unloading the remaining ammo into Alabama, the paintballs locking his armor quickly. He wobbled trying to throw himself at Tennessee and Tennessee just threw him on top of Delaware. He looked up in time to see Virginia had zeroed in on him. He took off again, this time making a wide circle around her. Her first shot struck him in the leg and he fell over. Montana went in for the kill as Delaware shrugged off Alabama finally. As Montana got closer, Tennessee unloaded his pistol locking Montana up. He took Montana as a human shield and used his SMG's to keep Delaware and Virginia moving. Virginia wasn't so lucky as she was struck quite a few times and fell over. Delaware was harder to hit so he changed his options. He couldn't bend his left knee so he started hobbling to the center of the room and moved Virginia's still body to the left with his foot. Delaware ran in firing, and Tennessee fired as well until they were both out of ammo and had a few marks painted on them. Tennessee's right arm was disabled and half of his visibility was gone. Delaware had taken a few hits to the chest and arms. He somehow found a way to draw his knife, and charged in to kill Tennessee. Tennessee sidestepped and used the frozen arm to bash in Delaware's face and placed his left leg on his body so that if he tried to stab him it would hit nothing. "Test over F.I.L.S.S. I've seen all I want. There's something I can work with here."


	2. Mission Start

Mission Start

One year later…

They had gathered in the command center for the briefing. Delaware stood off to the side with his arms clasped behind his back in his usual fashion with his legs spread shoulder-length apart. Alabama leaned up against a wall eyeing the map from afar. Montana and Virginia stuck close to Tennessee eyeing the map with extreme interest. Alaska came in last with York right behind him. The Director finished up his brief chat with the Counselor and turned to face them, "Gentlemen…and lady," he added nodding in Virginia's direction, "We have a very important assignment today, the Insurrectionists have been gaining the advantage in these coming months and we fear that they will be planning an attack or a break in to Freelancer facilities. Today you will be backing up Agent York as he attempts to infiltrate their base and uncover their files. Your team will be split into two groups, infiltration and recovery. The recovery team will be on standby until we decide otherwise. Do not fail me Agent Tennessee."

"Sir yes sir." Tennessee said, dripping contempt.

His team loaded up in the Pelican and checked their load outs. Delaware checked the extra ammo on his DMR and Magnum, Montana was doing a routine check of his armor's systems, his grenade launcher and dual SMG's set in his armor's holsters. Virginia adjusted the scope on her sniper rifle, and an ODST M7S SMG with suppressor and scope. "Why do you and Montana use SMG's…if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked up, "We were both in the same ODST unit, Montana was more…disorderly, and I was looking for something more challenging."

"I see." He looked over and Alabama was loading his shotgun and sliding a Magnum magazine smoothly in with a click. "Surprised you're choosing a Magnum."

"They wouldn't let me take a rocket launcher."

Tennessee couldn't tell if he was kidding or not so he turned to Alaska who was checking down the sights of his battle rifle. He looked at Tennessee and shrugged. Tennessee turned as York walked on board, "Good to see you again, heard you stood up to Wyoming."

"He's a dick. How about you, we were off on a mission when I heard about your eye."

"Eh, it's healing. Delta seems to think that I am not up to it. But hey, you learn by living."

Tennessee chuckled, "Well don't kill yourself on this one ok? Carolina will have my head."

"Agent Tennessee, it is highly unlikely that Agent Carolina will own your head." Delta shot back.

"Still learning humor this one." York replied, "What he means is that she would kill him."

"How will that reconstitute your body Agent York?"

"You know what Delta, don't worry about it. Let's just hop on the mission."

They descended in the Pelican towards the drop zone. "This is your pilot speaking, we will be entering the drop zone in about five minutes, you've been a pleasure to fly with and I hope you choose Freelance Air for your next trip."

"Thanks Four Seven Niner," Tennessee called. "Alright, York, Delaware and I will be on infiltration. I would like the rest of you to be on recovery with Four Seven Niner. Alaska will be your squad leader and you are to obey his every command." I stopped myself, "If it pertains to the mission. You know what I'm talking about Alaska."

Quietly from the back came his response, "Dammit!"

Virginia giggled and I looked directly at her; she went quiet. "Montana and Virginia you are ODST's you know how the squad dynamic works. Alabama…you are shark bait; Montana and Virginia outrank you so you report to them. Follow the mission! I don't want to say it again. We are on thin ice with the Director. I do not want to be reassigned to Sidewinder base. It's cold, and I don't get to sleep in my underwear. If we're all clear then let's get this mission going."

The bay doors opened and the wind whistled through. "We'll be jumping into the forest to infiltrate their base. Keep your distance and stay hidden. Bonsai!" Tennessee screamed as he jumped out of the Pelican.

His team looked out after him, "Is he crazy?" Virginia asked.

"No, he just really loves the armor ability he was given."

Tennessee enjoyed the air whistling past him as the ground became clearer and bigger. He could feel the adrenaline pumping in his body as he activated the sonic emitter and set the frequency at enough power to slow his descent until his feet gently touched the ground. "God, I never get tired of that!"

The Pelican set down next to him and York and Delaware calmly stepped off. "What took you so long?"

"Just enjoying the sights; like an idiot hurtling towards the ground at over 100 miles an hour."

"Wuss…"

Delaware stepped in, "So how does it feel to be the idiotic leader of a failing squad?"

Tennessee had had it with this guy's smug attitude, "I'm guessing it feels the same as being the guinea pig for the cloaking unit used by the Director's pet Texas…oh wait, did you want to be the Freelancer curled up in papa's lap."

Delaware was about to hit him, but Tennessee struck first. He shoved Delaware to the ground drew his knife and placed it at Delaware's throat. "A team is only as good as its weakest link. I would say that's Alabama, but even though he's insubordinate he has never questioned my orders or tried to make me look bad. My advice to you is this. I don't care if you were ONI before this, here, you are my bitch! And a bitch obeys its master. You are fresh meat and I have no problem throwing you to the dogs."

He helped Delaware up and patted him on the back before they walked off towards the base. Getting in was easy, because even if Delaware didn't like Tennessee he did appreciate York. He used the cloaking unit to move around and dispatch guards, while York sent Delta in to begin infiltrating the security systems and turning them to the Freelancer's advantage. York and Tennessee slowly moved up until they were finally inside the facility. It had a design like a Mayan temple, but on the inside it was all metal. It had three floors and then three additional basement levels. The team separated with Tennessee and Delaware taking the basement levels and York and Delta taking the upper levels. The infiltration went relatively without a hitch until an alarm was triggered on the second floor. "Dammit, York probably screwed up a lock again."

"Hey, I heard that!" York replied over the radio as gunfire and explosions were heard in the background.

"Four Seven Niner, deploy Alabama at the top of the temple…air drop him. Then deploy Montana and Alaska to rendezvous with the rest of us. Montana I want you with York. Alabama work your way down to them. Alaska help me and Delaware sweep the lower levels. Delta, tell me you have some good news."

"The central data storage is split between two storage units on the third floor and second basement level."

"Great. Alaska, scratch that. Rendezvous with us after you have received Delta from York and made your way back here."

"That is highly irregular."

"Fine, we'll lock down the second data center just make it back to us quickly!"

He heard a loud crash on what he could assume was the third floor of the temple as he heard the following over Alabama's radio. "Hey guys, how's your health insurance plan?"

He and Delaware ran through the lower levels until he had reached the data center. The Insurrectionists wheeled around but too late as Tennessee and Delaware fired their pistols and mowed down the line of enemies. "Watch my back, I'd rather pop the lock now than let York have a go."

The holographic lock appeared and it had two segments; rings that had to be lined up in the proper matching sequence, and a cipher key. He turned his attention to the rings first and solved that problem in no less than five seconds. The rings revealed the cipher key and he entered it in quickly. The lock went down and the firewall was disabled. Tennessee inserted a drive and got on the radio, "Delta should I drain the files or leave a back door in the system for you to access?"

"Agent York and I are in the middle of copying all the files…there is a lot of data to go through, so I would advise handling this yourself. We have our hands full."

Tennessee knew he was a lot less surgical than Delta, but he got every drop of data on that that he could see. "What now?"

Delaware walked up, "Now you watch my ass. I'm going to get anything they've hidden away and then fry their whole system."

"While Delta's in it?"

"I'm sure he'll be out in time."

"Delta, hurry up. Jackass over here is going to fry the system."

"Agent Tennessee these systems are separate. I will be fine."

Delaware did his job and soon Alaska joined them. "Guys Four Seven Niner can't really hold the Pelican in position for too much longer. I suggest we haul ass." They took off running to the top and rendezvoused with York, Alabama, and Montana. They hopped on board the Pelican and made their escape. "Well I think the Director will be pleased with the relative success of our mission." Just then, the base exploded. "Or he will chew us out…son of a bitch."

Tennessee didn't know how long he had stood there with the Director screaming at him about his incompetence. His team was to be disbanded and they were all to be reassigned. It was the end of the road, but if Tennessee knew anything about fate. It was that it had a funny way of bringing people back together.


	3. The Break In

The Break In

"Intruder Alert, Intruder Alert, Level 0!"

Tennessee heard F.I.L.S.S. blare over the announcement system. Over the last few months the number of Freelancers had greatly decreased; whether it was through tests or through Agent Texas. Tennessee wasn't an idiot though, he had known Texas, she may have been anti-social and others were jealous of her special treatment but he knew better. He had been keeping tabs on everyone, and he knew that Montana's attempted escape had been a cover for CT's hacking of the system. In secret he had made a copy of the files she had and had taken a true peek at what was behind Project Freelancer. He didn't like what he had seen. So he decided to take a stand. Texas and York had run from the Project and he had joined them, Alaska had come along and they had made an escape from it all. Only to return a few months later because Tex wanted to free Alpha. They weren't the only Freelancers to leave with Tex though. There were two others that had joined them. Vermont and Rhode Island. "Hey Rhodey, how much further till we reach the holding cells?"

"Not much further," The steel colored Freelancer replied, "We just have to make it through Atrium B and Dock E."

Tennessee rounded the corner into the atrium and in front of them stood a red and gold Freelancer, "West Virginia…funny seeing you here…Iron Man called he wants his armor back!"

"You're dead Ness!" He said lowering his Spartan Laser.

"Tag in Rhodey!" Tennessee yelled as he rushed West and knocked the laser into the air. It cut through a floor and a half of the ship. "Play nice!" He said as he ran even faster down the hall. He ran into Dock E and saw Alaska in a heated battle with Hawaii. "Girlfriend problems?" Tennessee called to Alaska.

"Help would be much appreciated!" He called as steam began to rise from their conflict. Alaska had a freezing agent for his armor ability while Hawaii had a heating agent. Before joining my team, Alaska and Hawaii were sent on a few missions and from what I saw of the Director's files, they were a special project on opposing forces working together. It worked for a while, until Hawaii's inner bitch awoke. She was the extremely jealous type. And Alaska was known for his luck with women. Their relationship lasted about a week. "Why don't you love me!?"

"Because you are a crazy bitch! I told you, that girl in Bangkok was just an old Army pal. But you threatened her with a steak knife!"

"She was giving you sideways looks!"

Tennessee ran up, placing both hands on her helmet and cranked up the sonic emitter. She screamed and convulsed before falling silent and limp. "You didn't kill her did you?"

"I don't think so why?"

Alaska gave her a quick nudge with his foot, "Because I think the only way she'll stop following me is if I kill her."

"Trust me, after this she'll be in a federal prison for a long time."

"Cool…after this is all over, you are taking me into special forces with you…I'd be a much better spy than a foot soldier."

"Well ODST looks good on a resume."

He laughed and they ran to the cellblock. They entered and quickly found the control panel, "Guy on your left." Alaska said casually as Tennessee raised his pistol and shot the soldier, quickly going back to his hacking. "Done, now let's see who we've got left."

Montana and Alabama sat in the same cell and were throwing a baseball back and forth. "Hello boys." They said as they approached. "About damn time," Alabama replied, "I was getting tired of waiting…you got my armor?" Tennessee bumped his fist into the locker next to him and the armor fell out. The other two got dressed and they ran to the bridge. They got stopped midway by Vermont flying through the air at them. Alabama caught her and set her down. Rhode Island ran over to them, "Apparently your team didn't get the memo."

Delaware and Virginia stood in their way with four other Freelancers. Tennessee recognized them as the recruits that had been brought in to replace Montana and Alabama; with the two others he had assumed the Director had brought in to replace them as well. "Meet your replacements. Arkansas, Pennsylvania, California, and Oklahoma."

"Hey there Oaky…ok guys, you know the drill…crush 'em!"

Rhodey held out his hand, "These guys are seriously tough…I don't know where the Director got them from but they are strong!"

Alaska tapped his wrist comm quickly, "Got their files and their abilities, uploading to your HUDS!"

Tennessee had to give it to Alaska, he was good. "Then let's mix it up."

They chose those who were best suited to tackle each other. Tennessee charged Virginia and used the sonic emitter. Her advance tracker bugged out and she shook her head. She didn't even feel a thing as Tennessee knocked her out and wheeled on Delaware to fight. Alaska jumped in to fight California, the new kid had a Kig Yar energy shield type that he could generate anywhere on his body. Alaska punched and kicked and the kid blocked him at every turn. But he knew it was experimental and he had fought Kig Yar before; the shields had a bad habit of overloading. He increased the ferocity and the kid struggled to keep up. The shield timed out with a fizzle and as the kid looked up Alaska's fist collided with his face plate. Rhodey and Vermont had been fighting for a while but they jumped in using their unison hologram raid. Vermont's armor acted like a radio tower for people's abilities but she had to remain in contact with her target. She and Rhodey held hands and circled the two, dozens of holograms of them circling the two enemy Freelancers Arkansas and Oklahoma. Montana and Alabama rushed to help out their allies, but forgot to compensate for Oklahoma's speed booster. He rushed in and hit every hologram until the two Freelancer's separated. Arkansas then charged in and grabbed them both by the neck. Using his strength amplifier he snapped their necks. "No!" Tennessee screamed, Delaware blind-siding him before vanishing once more with his ability. Tennessee decided he'd had enough. "Lock it down!" he yelled to Alaska. Alaska did as he was told and Tennessee removed the limiter on the emitter using his own voice for the medium. He looked straight at Oklahoma and let out and un-godly wail. The sound waves racked Oklahoma's body and eventually he started to spasm, blood flowing from his helmet. He upped the frequency and Oklahoma went still. Delaware reappeared and Alaska grabbed his helmet and slammed him into the deck repeatedly. Arkansas looked around in fear before Alabama tapped him on the shoulder. He turned and Alabama and Montana punched him, the shielding they both had over their fists was like being hit with a tank slug. He flew through the room and made a dent in the locked down door leading to the bridge. "Well that wasn't too bad." Tennessee said as he began to float off the ground. "Fantastic…"

They had used the bodies floating around and their own abilities to make it to the deck where they used the magnet boots to lock themselves to the deck as they made their way to the bridge. They walked that way, only to run into Maine. "Oh shit…" Tennessee said.

"I'll hold him off," Alabama said. "You guys just keep going."

"We're not leaving you here…you come with us, that's an order!"

He chuckled, "That's the thing about me…I'm not good at following orders."

They moved on in a resigned manner, as the door locked behind them. That was the last they saw of Alabama. They ran to the bridge in time to see the epic showdown between Tex and Carolina. They were smart enough to stay out of the way of those two and just watch the door. The fight was over relatively quickly, and Tex did what she came there to do. Tennessee was about to console her when he saw Maine heading for Carolina, _Alabama you idiot!_ He thought, "Tex!" He screamed and they all began running towards Carolina…they were too late. Things went back to normal, and the manhunt for Maine began. But Tennessee wasn't around to see it. He and his team resigned. Delaware resigned his position and returned to ONI where he served as the liaison between them and the Oversight Sub-Committee. Virginia and Montana took a few others with them and formed Havok Squad, a special squad of ex-ODST's. Tennessee and Alaska entered UNPSA. The United Nations Planetary Security Agency, to serve as agents in the field. But the Chairman had one last job for them.


	4. One Last Job

**Sorry guys, I just couldn't really bring myself to do more...this'll be the final chapter and then I'm done with Freelancer Chronicles. I enjoyed writing this for as long as I could, but there's only so much I could do. Read, enjoy, review.**

One Last Job

Dorian Ness sat in the café sipping his coffee slowly and enjoying a nice bagel. His partner, Jose Iglesias, was ordering his own coffee and pastry at the counter. The other man, a 5'11 tan powerhouse with black hair and a goatee seemed to have trouble figuring out what he wanted. Dorian just sipped his coffee and casually glanced at the three men behind him. They were Insurrectionist ring-leaders that had to be brought down. If he had his armor this would have been easier, but from the secure feed he still had inside Project Freelancer they were down on hard times, but at least the Meta had finally shown himself. His partner had finished and sat down. "Iced coffee and a muffin?"

"Yeah, I like those frap things."

Ness laughed a little and continued to sip his coffee. "So what do you want to do?"

The men stood and began to leave, and Jose tagged them with a tiny bug he had made, "So shall we proceed to the meeting hall, we shall plan where to strike next at the UNSC."

"What if we're caught?"

"They won't have the time to stop us."

"That's our cue," Ness said as they rose and trailed their targets.

They followed them to a small warehouse where they were gathering. Ness and Iglesias drew their M6C/SOCOM pistols. Theirs had a few modifications because the regular pistols were crap. They walked in and the ringleaders turned; there were four others with rifles there. The conflict lasted no more than a few seconds as Ness and Iglesias picked their targets and brought them down. "Well, when I said I'd sign up for your special forces thingy…I didn't expect it to be so…boring. At least Freelancer had some excitement."

"Yeah I know…you're not the only one who wishes to get back."

"That can be arranged gentlemen."

They wheeled around to bear down on Delaware. His civilian name was Matthew Drake, and he was an ONI spook. "You're lucky we don't shoot you here you son of a bitch!"

"Please keep personal feelings out of the work-place if you don't mind."

I holstered my pistol, "You have sixty seconds starting now; make it quick."

"The Chairman of the Over-Sight Subcommittee wants you to infiltrate Project Freelancer while they're in this toss up and steal critical files of their systems to further his investigation."

"He wants us to what?"

"Agent Maine's rogue activity has led to turmoil in Project Freelancer, and lately they have been required to be cooperative with investigations into their past."

"So the band is getting back together?"

"In a sense…your old team will reassemble with the addition of two extra Freelancers who will assist you."

"And what do I get out of this?"

"Other than a full pardon by the law and you are no longer under constant surveillance, nothing else."

"So you mean the whole time we've been back at this job we've been under surveillance?"

"Well we did break into that facility and steal secret military files." Delaware replied.

"So that's on our head…and if we refuse?"

"I have a full team ready to detain you and ship you off for intensive interrogation."

"Then I guess we don't have a choice."

Tennessee sat in the briefing room and looked around. Virginia and Montana were there with their squad mates California and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania had run from them at the facility when the fight broke out. He had been on the run with his equipment ever since it started. ONI had apparently picked him up near Sidewinder outpost where they had detained him. California had been working for Montana and Virginia in Havok Squad, and had been detained with them. "Good, we're all here…now you will be breaking into this facility where they are storing most of their AI, equipment, and data files. We believe you may be met with resistance, if not then there will still be others who will try to stop you."

"And we are to be deployed and tasked with retrieving data?"

"Essentially."

"Great, any idea what we're getting into?"

"Nothing different than your usual. Just get it done."

They were ushered into a small armory to equip themselves with whatever they needed. They grabbed their usual weapons and headed out to the offsite facility. "So what are we taking to this place?"

"Don't worry," Montana added, "We're taking my car." He showed them the custom Warthogs he had made for the occasion. They had custom parts that boosted speed, suspension, and shock absorption.

"Montana, if we make it out of this you are building me a car."

He grinned and they drove from the facility to Valhalla base and then on to the offsite A.I. storage facility. Virginia was posted on the ridge with Pennsylvania as a spotter and back-up sniper. Montana and the others proceeded towards the facility. They arrived just in time to see a few simulation troopers enter into the bunker. "What the hell are they doing there…and is that…Wash?"

"I guess," Alaska replied, "I'm just wondering…if they're here…then wouldn't Maine be here too?"

"We need to hurry, who knows when others will show up."

They entered the facility and found a guarded room. "What do you want to do?"

Tennessee rounded the corner, "We're here for a meeting with the Director on orders of the Chairman of the Over-Sight Subcommittee."

The two soldiers looked at each other and raised their weapons as California shot them. "We don't have time for this." Alaska said, as he hacked the door. It hissed open and they ran in to get to work. Alarms sounded, but they kept running. He looked over through the glass to see Wash running along a corridor like theirs. They reached the same room as Wash and hid to make sure he didn't see him before copying a list of assets and abilities from a nearby console. Tennessee opened up a drawer with a hiss and a set of armor sat inside. It was labeled Tennessee and was an upgraded version of his. It was steel and green, and the others opened their cases as well and suited up. California stored the data-pad on his leg and they were ready to leave until Wash and a blue soldier ran out with guards tailing them. Some guards broke off and turned to fight Tennessee's team. The fight was over quickly and they returned to their door. It was locked down from the outside so they returned to the data room, finished off the guards that appeared from Wash's corridor and headed for the motor pool.

"Tennessee, come in. The Meta has been spotted he is wreaking havoc up here. Orders?" Virginia radioed.

"Don't engage just stay out of it."

"Alright, we'll…" A gunshot silenced her comm.

"Virginia? Virginia!?"

He hid, and Wash and the soldiers entered and began to discuss their plan to disable Project Freelancer. They waited until they had left and were about to leave, when the Meta entered. "Shit…hello Maine…"

Maine growled and got ready. "Open fire!"

Maine ducked and weaved through their bullets and closed in with his weapon. He leveled the barrel with Montana's chest and opened fire. The close-range blast knocked him back and brought him to his knees. He spun and brought the blade down on Alaska's shoulder. He turned and drew his pistol and unloaded into California. "NO!" Tennessee screamed as he charged him to attack. The blade sunk into his gut and he felt the air rush out of his lungs. Maine lifted him off the ground with the weapon and he gasped for breath. Maine slung the blade to the side and he dropped to the ground. The world went dark around Tennessee and he faded as he heard Montana scream with rage. When he came to he looked around. Delaware was scavenging California for the data-pad. Montana was slumped against the corner, his armor and blood was scattered all over the room. Alaska was gone, and he could only assume he'd escaped. He tried to speak but could only manage a gasp. Delaware turned to face him.

"Well…it's good to see you Tennessee."

"Vir…ginia…"

"She's been dealt with by Pennsylvania…unfortunately he escaped though…"

"Why?"

"Because you all were liabilities…it would've been either prison or the chair for all of you…all I had to do was dangle a carrot and you all did what I wanted. Now with this I just have to wipe the files on this card and vanish…thanks to Wash and his EMP we've become ghosts."

"Ba…bastard…"

He leveled his pistol with Tennessee's head. "If it's any consolation, I didn't enjoy killing Virginia…but you…I will enjoy this."

Tennessee kept his eyes level and he heard the gunshot. He watched Delaware fall and Wash limp up. "Tennessee?"

"Wash." He replied weakly.

He tried to stand and he fell; blood pouring from his open wound. Wash looked around and grabbed a nearby can of biofoam and emptied it into the wound. The cool rush snapped Tennessee to his senses. He stood and limped his way out of the facility and kept on walking. He didn't know where he'd go now…but he would get back at everyone who had used him.


End file.
